How good is the Patriot League Class of 2007?
27 February, 2007It’s an odd way to compare classes, but there’s no easier apples-to-apples comparison among classes than to look at postseason honors. To the naked eye, it’s obvious that this graduating senior class in the Patriot League is special. How special? To find out, I delved into the history of the Patriot League, and looked at All-League selections and Player of the Year since the 1990-1991 debut of the league. I’ll present my findings in chronological order beginning with the Class of 1994, the first class to play all four years in the Patriot League, but to give you the conclusion first: The Class of 2007 garnered 11 total All-League first team selections, the most one Patriot League class has ever garnered.
Class of 1994
First teamers: 3
Second Teamers: 4
League POYs: 0
Notable players: Bucknell’s Chris Simpson garnered back-to-back first team honors, and Sherwin Content of Fordham also was named to the first team.
Class of 1995
First teamers: 5
Second teamers: 4
League POYs: 2
Notable players: Holy Cross’ Rob Feaster garnered three first team selections and a league POY, and Tucker Neale of Colgate got two first team picks, a second team pick, and a league POY.
Class of 1996
First teamers: 8
Second teamers: 7
League POYs: 0
Notable players: Brian Anderson of Bucknell and Army’s Mark Lueking each were named All-Patriot first team three times.
Class of 1997
First teamers: 1
Second teamers: 4
League POYs: 0
Notable players: Gordon Mboya of Bucknell was the only member of the Class of 1997 to be named to the first team. Chris Rojik of Holy Cross garnered back-to-back second team accolades.
Class of 1998
First teamers: 9
Second teamers: 3
League POYs: 2
Notable players: Adonal Foyle, who left Colgate early after the 1996-1997 season but entered the league as part of the Class of 1998, received two League POY trophies and three appearances on the All-League first team. Navy’s Hassan Booker and Bucknell’s J.R. Holden each got a pair of first team honors.
Class of 1999
First teamers: 3
Second teamers: 6
League POYs: 0
Notable players: Lehigh’s Brett Eppenheimer, Lafayette’s Ted Cole and Army’s George Tatum each got one first team nod.
Class of 2000
First teamers: 7
Second teamers: 5
League POYs: 3
Notable players: Brian Ehlers of Lafayette won two League POYs and two first team honors. Teammate Stefan Ciosici also garnered a League POY and a first team bid. Sitapha Savane of Navy claimed two first team honors.
Class of 2001
First teamers: 4
Second teamers: 4
League POYs: 0
Notable players: Navy’s Chris Williams was named All-Patriot first team three times. Josh Sankes of Holy Cross got one first team bid and one second team bid.
Class of 2002
First teamers: 7
Second teamers: 6
League POYs: 1
Notable players: American’s Patrick Doctor, who only played in the Patriot League his senior year, was named Patriot League POY and to the first team. Colgate’s Pat Campolieta got three first team bids, and Bucknell’s Bryan Bailey got two.
Class of 2003
First teamers: 7
Second teamers: 6
League POYs: 2
Notable players: Holy Cross’ Tim Szatko got a League POY and two first team appearances, and teammate Pat Whearty also got a league POY and one first team bid. Boakai Lalugba of Bucknell had two first team appearances.
Class of 2004
First teamers: 6
Second teamers: 4
League POYs: 1
Notable players: Lehigh’s Austen Rowland got a League POY and one first team appearance, and Holy Cross’ Jave Meade garnered two first team bids. The 2004 All-League first team was made up entirely of seniors, with American’s Andres Rodriguez and Lafayette’s tandem of Winston Davis Justin DeBerry joining Rowland and Meade.
Class of 2005
First teamers: 0
Second teamers: 2
League POYs: 0
Notable players: Jason Thomas of American and Andrew Zidar of Colgate were both named to the second team, the sole honors for the only class in Patriot League history to not garner at least one All-League first teamer.
Class of 2006
First teamers: 4
Second teamers: 8
League POYs: 2
Notable players: Bucknell’s Charles Lee and Holy Cross’ Kevin Hamilton each received one League POY and two All-League first team honors.
Class of 2007
First teamers: 11
Second teamers: 5
League POYs: 1
Notable players: Keith Simmons was named League POY; he and Chris McNaughton were each named to three All-League first teams. Andre Ingram and Jose Olivero also got two first team honors each.
(The astute may note that these numbers don’t perfectly add up. In some years where there were ties in the voting for first teamers, the Patriot League named six first team players and five second team players. In other years where there were ties in the voting for second teamers, the league named five first teamers and six second teamers. Additionally, there were three instances of All-League second teamers whose year of graduation could not be ascertained. They were ignored in the above numbers.)